Supernatural Botanicals

With ingredients you probably have in your fridge and pantry, you can easily whip up a homemade facial mask for an at-home spa treatment.  Don’t throw overly-ripened bananas away, use them in this facial mask…great for dry skin!

Banana Face Mask for Dry Skin
Mash half cup of natural yogurt, 1 tablespoon of honey, and 1/4 ripe banana. Apply this pack on face and neck and leave for 10 minutes and then rinse off.

I’ve been making banana bread since 5th grade.  That’s also the year I begged my mom to teach me how to do the laundry.  I was born with domestication in my bones, evidently.    I have literally been making this recipe since I was 10 years old, so it has deeply-rooted memories of home to me.

Home smells like freshly baked banana bread.  I’ve baked thousands of loaves of banana bread.  When you stop by my house for a cup of coffee, odds are, I’ll make a banana bread while we are gossiping around the kitchen island.

Banana Bread Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°.  With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4″ x 8″ inch loaf pan.  Bake for 1 hour.  Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

*Note:  There are so many variations you can add to this, such as walnuts, banana chunks, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, sliced almonds, coconut, dried cherries, etc., in addition to various icings and glazes on the top.  For a quick icing, purchase cake icing, and microwave in its container for 30 seconds (or until pourable), pour over loaf of banana bread.  Sprinkle chopped walnuts on top of icing.  I can tell you from experience, this brings ooohhhs and aaahhhhs.

Fresh fruit season is upon us.  With warmer weather approaching, you’ll notice the strawberries look healthier and vibrant red, the bananas are sunny yellow and ripe, and oranges are juicy and bright orange.   Not only is it peak season for eating fresh fruits, but also for making skincare recipes with them.  Fruits have been extensively used in skincare applications since the beginning of time. 

The next time your fruit basket is full, do double-beauty-duty by eating fruits to nourish the inside, and using fruits in skincare recipes to nourish the outside. 

By making your own facial masks with fresh fruit, you’ll assure no preservatives or chemicals are are going onto and into your skin. 

Try this Banana Honey Facial Mask.  Bananas are high in vitamins C, A, B6, and B12 in addition to magnesium and potassium.  The fruit acids in bananas help to slough off dead skin cells, leaving your skin looking healthy and refreshed. 

RECIPE:

1 Banana,  2 tablespoons of honey

Mash banana with honey into a paste, and apply to to clean skin.  Leave on skin 15 minutes, then rinse with warm water.  The banana/honey mixture leaves a firming, yet moisturized feeling to the skin…..that’s totally delicious!